Cass Prince

Name: Cass Prince

Gender: Genderfluid (biologically female)

Age: 18

Grade: Senior

School: Cochise High School

Hobbies and Interests: Painting, drawing, romance stories, biking

Appearance: Cass is a 5’7, 130 lb person of African-American descent. They have black, thick, curly hair, which they keep cropped very short. They have a sharp-looking, angular face, with a cleopatra nose and round, brown eyes. Their body is fairly slim. When they are feeling particularly feminine, they wear a thin layer of makeup. Cass’s ears are pierced, but they very rarely wear earrings, and when they do, they are simple, unobtrusive studs.

In general, Cass tends to dress very androgynously. In warm weather, they usually dress in either artistic-look t-shirts or dark tank tops, along with shorts. In colder times, they typically wear men’s button-down shirts with jeans. For footwear, Cass wears a well-worn pair of black sneakers, finding anything fancier both uncomfortable and impractical. They prefer suits to dresses for formal occasions.

Biography: Zoe and Jake Prince, respectively the principal viola and trombone players of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, first met each other through their work. Soon after, Zoe invited Jason out for drinks, and the two entered a long relationship together, getting married after a few years. On March 16, 1996, Cassandra Prince was born to the couple in a New York hospital, who would remain their only child.

Three years after Cass’s birth, Zoe’s mother Gabrielle fell severely ill. As her husband had passed away several years prior, she was unable to continue living unassisted on her own. To support her, Zoe and Jake moved in with her at her residence in Kingman. When Gabrielle succumbed to her illness after several years, Cass’s parents remained in the area, not wanting to uproot their child and having both found employment as music teachers at local schools.

Cass’s childhood was ordinary, for the most part. When their parents were busy, Cass was often left in the care of Rachel Mason, the next door neighbor and close friend of Zoe and Jake. Rachel’s daughter, Christine, was the same age as Cass, and the two became very close friends, considering themselves to be sisters. Once the two girls were old enough to begin their education, they were enrolled in the same school.

It was during their early education that Cass first discovered their affinity for art. This started when a simple assignment in art class to draw their favorite animal resulted in, to Cass’s eyes, a sprawling epic that depicted the results of introducing a T-Rex into the ecosystem of Kingman. This greatly amused their teacher, whose encouragement prompted Cass to continue drawing on their own time. Their parents were very supportive of them, making sure to always provide them with an equal amount of praise and constructive criticism, to gently nudge them into improving themself.

As a child, Cass often rode their bike around the suburb where they lived, traveling to the nearby stores in order to procure snacks. As they grew older, Cass continued to ride, but more for its own sake. They needed the exercise, and enjoyed the opportunity to get outside and listen to their music. Cass tends to think of it as a form of stress relief, freeing themself of the need to do anything else but concentrate on the road in front of them. Though most of their biking is done in the city, Cass does occasionally travel outside the city to ride on dedicated off-road bike trails, mostly for the change in scenery.

During their last year of middle school, Cass and Christine met and became friends with a new kid in their grade, Marco Korsman. Before too long, Christine and Marco started going out. This continued until their Sophomore year of high school, when the two broke up after a heated fight sparked by Christine accusing Marco of being emotionally distant. Not wanting their two best friends to remain angry at each other, Cass attempted to make peace between the two. Unfortunately for Cass, all this accomplished was turning both of them against Cass as well.

Though Cass had always been a quiet person, losing their friends caused Cass to retreat even further into themself. Though they remained able to interact with others, Cass developed a crippling aversion to voicing their opinions to others. They became convinced that nothing good would ever come of them trying to persuade others, no longer having the confidence to even attempt to lead others. They have remained this way up to the present day, even after they reconciled with their friends a year later.

Even as a young child, Cass sometimes felt discomfort when describing themself as entirely female, a term that never seemed to exactly fit them. In their first year of high school, Cass signed up for Tumblr in order to more easily share their art, and was introduced for the first time to its LGBT community. Through reading the stories of others in the community, Cass came to the conclusion that they were a transgender male. Though this didn’t sit entirely right with them, either, they assumed it to be the only explanation.

Cass brought the issue up to their parents, and while they were caught off-guard, they ultimately supported their child and suggested seeing a psychologist to allow Cass to fully work out their feelings. Through conversations with the psychologist, Cass came to the realization that they were truly genderfluid, not a transgender male. This diagnosis was even harder for their parents to comprehend, but after discussing it among themselves, they decided that the most important thing was that their child felt comfortable with who they were, daughter or not.

After they had time to fully process what they were feeling, Cassandra requested that others refer to them as “Cass”, and with gender neutral pronouns. However, due to worry of their community's reaction, they are only out to their parents and closest friends. Everyone else knows them only as a girl named Cassandra, thinking “Cass” to be just a nickname. Despite this, Cass has decided to stop wearing their skirts and dresses, instead switching to an androgynous wardrobe that they felt suited them more. The change in the way they present has made Cass feel much more comfortable in their own skin, but it still causes them anguish when others refer to them as “her”.

Cass maintained their interest in art up through high school, continuing to hone their skills. They typically spent several hours a day either drawing or painting, finding both forms to be interesting in their own ways. Although Cass sometimes amused themself by drawing fan art of characters from shows they liked, along with various other random sketches, their true passion was painting scenes that told a story all by themselves, seemingly still frames from a grander work. Cass loved to subtly, painstakingly introduce details into a painting to reveal information about its subjects. They were able to successfully capture both technical details and evoke emotions.

Though Cass identifies as asexual, and has never been in a relationship, they consider themself to be a hopeless romantic. They adore the concept of two human beings meeting and coming to truly understand and love each other, and will tirelessly consume any media that satisfactorily conveys that theme, be it a book, movie, show, or game. They do, however, have very tight standards about what they consider to be a quality romance, detesting media where two characters arbitrarily come together for the sake of having a romance subplot. It is the legitimate chemistry between people they enjoy, not the act of romance in itself.

Throughout high school, Cass consistently got high grades, due to constant study and effort. Socially, they keep a very small and very close circle of friends, often preferring quiet isolation to the company of others. Cass is otherwise still perfectly able to interact with other students, but is usually too anxious to truly express themself, a fact that they despise and spend an unhealthy amount of time lambasting themself over. After graduation, they intend to attend the best-regarded liberal arts college they can get accepted into.

Cass considers themself to be a cynic who is desperately trying to be an optimist. They admire those who see beauty in everything and good in everyone, but in practice, Cass tends to assume the worst of others and has a generally sour outlook. They do make a concentrated effort to think positively, but their anxiety gets in the way more often than not. Because of this, Cass spends a large amount of their time feeling melancholic and listless.

As exemplified by the level of detail in their art, Cass is very observant of their surroundings, and is an attentive listener. However, this trait, combined with their anxiety, often makes them read too much into the changes in tone or expression of others.

Advantages: Due to their issues with expressing their opinion, Cass would function well in a group, and likely avoid causing any conflicts. They are highly analytical and detail-focused with their art, which has also influenced the way they look at the world. They are healthy and in shape due to years of biking.

Disadvantages: Cass has self-worth issues, and would thus lack the required confidence to be an effective leader. Their withdrawnness would make it difficult for them to forge effective connections on-island. Their romanticism may leave them open for manipulation by others.

Designated Number: Female student No. 001

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Designated Weapon: Mop

Conclusion: Genderwhat now? Actually doesn't matter, you're fucked anyway. - Josie Knight

'The above biography is as written by dmboogie. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: dmboogie

Kills: 

Killed By: 

Collected Weapons: Mop (assigned weapon, discarded), garrotte (piano wire) (from Travis Lynch)

Allies: Travis Lynch, Irene Djezari, Wade Cartwright

Enemies: Jeremiah Fury, Matthew Moradi

Mid-game Evaluation: Cass woke up on a stairwell, discarded their weapon, and climbed until they found the asylum rooftop where Travis Lynch had been placed. They felt comfortable discussing various things like their immediate plans and their mundane dreams, and the conversation also turned to the nature of art. At this point Vanessa Stone appeared, helping along an injured Min-jae Parker. The duo made Cass nervous, and though the conversation went well for a while Vanessa had a manic outburst and Trav and Cass decided they didn't feel comfortable with the other two staying, and the other two left. Cass was unsure, but they slept in shifts with Trav despite their doubts about an alliance. During their shift they took the time to send a message home.

The next day they hear announcements with Trav while eating breakfast, and reflect on the suffering their friend Clarice Halwood must have gone through due to the deaths of her close ones. Trav remarks they can stay on the roof. However the two of them eventually decided it would be better to try and find friends. They go back down, exit the asylum. They found Irene Djezari in the gardens, along with the corpse of Jane Madison. Irene and Trav expressed shock that Cass found they didn't quite reciprocate as they believed this killing was inevitable. Cass offered Irene the chance to travel with them, along with Wade Cartwright when he appeared and tried to get Irene to join him. The four of them were able to tentatively agree on an alliance.

Later that night they returned to the asylum, and found a room in one of the regular wards to hole up in. A back and forth conversation between them turned up some heavy topics of discussion, Cass tried to allay the fears of both Wade and Irene. For Irene specifically they proposed a more non-black-and-white interpretation of the motivation of the island's killers, and pointed out she's not qualified to know for sure. Irene didn't buy it. Both she and Wade proved increasingly difficult for Cass to handle as both of them were taking their situation in a way they didn't believe was appropriate and they snapped, heatedly calling both out for not seeing the big picture. Trav calmed them down, but Cass remained morose, more now at themself. They followed Trav when he suggested a walk and agreed when he decided they should go seaside for an inane reason of 'seeing it', though Cass remained incapable of puzzling out why Trav was protecting them specifically. Wade followed, but Irene slipped away, and Cass belatedly wished them luck and a more agreeable group dynamic.

Cass followed Trav to the sea, Wade trailing behind. The three of them meditated on their upcoming visit to the sea, Cass glad for the more fanciful pursuit to distract them from the reality about them. Wade tried to convince them to pursue another course of action, but Cass remained adamant, mostly for Trav's sake. Cass accepted some of Wade's objections, for example they were also disinclined to actually swim in the ocean proper, but theystuck with Trav when he decided it was time to go.

From the slopes they looped back to the cove beaches, where the whimsical mood immediately died when they found the corpse of Trav's close friend, Toby Andreasson. Announcements had confirmed she'd been murdered by Jeremiah Fury, after a brief moment of mourning silence Cass knew not to interrupt save for a silent attempt to comfort Trav, Trav declared he needed to find Jerry. He also implied he was prepared for Cass to go their own way, Cass refused, knowing they couldn't fault Trav for desiring revenge, nor persuade themselves to stand out of his way. They set off on the hunt together.

They found Jerry and his ally Matthew Moradi at the radio tower, Cass stood by Trav's side as he confronted Jerry, following his lead despite their personal misgivings. After Jerry fumbled for excuses and blamed everyone but himself Trav finally started the pursuit, Jerry began to run. Matt begged for mercy, Cass assured him he'd come to no harm as Trav took off, Matt and Cass following. The pursuit of Jerry spanned the entire island in a roundabout, Cass fell behind the lot of them and ultimately only caught up when it was too late, when they could only hear gunshots. Jerry had killed Trav, the body collapsing into the surf of the shoreline. Cass ran past Matt and Jerry to Trav's side, sobbing. As their sorrow and thoughts overwhelmed one thing stood out, Jerry and Matt coldly discussing taking Trav's supplies and their plans. Cass refused to hear any of it and interposed themself between them and the corpse and bag, intent on protecting Trav's memory from defilement. Matt and Jerry refused to play along, casually telling Cass off and claiming self-defense as a motive. An enraged Cass seized the initiative and charged, cracking their fist into Jerry's face and knocking him down. His knife scored a strike on their wrist, but with Jerry prone Cass was able to take the supplies from Trav and run. They wandered the slopes in a daze, before managing to recover and bandage their wound, deciding to continue on and pursue something that mattered to them, despite not being sure what and continuing to suffer from their regrets.

They thus began a quest for art supplies, which took them to the art therapy room, but not into it as the stench of old corpses within repelled them. They remained stymied, staying still even as unfamiliar voices approached and turned out to be Isabel Ramirez and Lily Caldwell. Cass recognized Isabel all too well, and was genuinely terrified but tried to keep the conversation going easy to keep it out of dangerous territory. Cass didn't trust either of them even as Isabel offered her food, Cass denied it and remained well cognizant of how easily their life could be ended by either woman before them. Isabel ate by herself while Lily and Cass sulked, then the murderer carelessly allowed herself to go to sleep. Lily quietly advised Cass run while she could, and Cass did, observing that Lily was pitiful but not deserving of pity as they fled the scene.

They were able to find notebook and pencil in the doctor's offices, but without Trav, Cass was unable to sleep due to their fear of being killed while they were unconscious; resulting in them being haunted by an inability to produce anything they were satisfied with. They hid away in the hunting cabin, tired and cold, and were startled by the appearance of Min-jae Parker. They recalled they'd spoken with him back when Trav had still been alive, and they were relatively glad to see him, stumbling through a greetings as he laid his weapon aside. Jae assured them they were safe, and offered condolences for their loss of Travis. Cass sat, but knew despite Jae's promises passing out would be unsafe, so they distracted themselves with a ramble that quickly became heavily philosophic in nature. Jae mused, then began to expound on his beliefs with the idea that it might offer Cass comfort. His ideas included that of an afterlife, which he explained in detail, but Cass' reaction was mixed, as they found the idea equally haunting as it was comforting. Further digression was prevented by the arrival of Dorothy Shelley, one of Jae's allies he'd abandoned, who was promptly upset at him for that. Cass vaguely hoped Dorothy and Jae wouldn't come to blows. They deescalated and Cass and Dorothy even spoke casually for a good second, before Jae suddenly started a new tense argument, over Dorothy having tasered but not killed one of Jae's targets, Alessio Rigano. Cass merely let themselves watch until Jae's fury drove Dorothy into near tears and meekly agreeing to finish the job, running off on that note. Seizing on some assertiveness after Dorothy left, Cass asked whether he was really going to just let her run off and kill someone for him. Jae tersely responded in the negative and reloaded his weapon, though he left Cass the telescopic baton he had been carrying as a peace offering before leaving.

Cass returned to the bedroom they had been in before Min-jae's arrival and tried to resume drawing, though they still found themselves frustrated. They managed to get some uninterrupted sleep, though it didn't help them with their artist's block. Their peace was shattered when Alessio Rigano himself arrived, firing wildly into the building before departing just as suddenly. Cass was startled and frightened but unhurt, and wasn't sure what to do with themselves besides return to drawing. They were found again, but by a far less aggressive and at least friendly and familiar Asuka Takahara. She was also heavily conversant and had quite a lot to say, to Cass' dull surprise. Asuka seemed upset, disturbed about what had so far happened- or more accurately not happened- to them on island, Cass sympathized and provided an ear as Asuka ranted and struggled to vocalize her existential fears. The conversation turned to Cass, Cass admitted they were likewise bothered by their inability to emotionally meet the island's challenges and difficulties, in this case with their art. Asuka implied such a move would defy the terrorists narrative and motivations, that upset Cass and they fired back wildly, saying that was not what their art was supposed to be about. Asuka was shocked by the retort and started to cry, Cass numbly apologized, unsure how to proceed as they tried to spin the conversation elsewhere.

Post-Game Evaluation: 

Memorable Quotes:  Even if no one listens or cares at first, and even when anybody who could have recognized their names is gone, it's still there, y'know?" - Cass to Travis, on the nature of art.

"Well, like... god, I know this is a lot to ask, sorry, but you guys have always told me that I need to try and be a bit more selfish, yeah? So, could you please... pass this on to them? Even just the important bits?" - Cass trying to address their best friends back home, asking them to pass a message to Cass's parents.

"What the fuck is the point?" -- Thorough self-summation of their island philosophy.

"Doesn't seem like you want to be, either." -- Just before Cass leaves, when Lily says 'You don’t want to be here when she [Isabel] wakes up.'

"But like, if we all get reborn like you're saying, is it still us? Like, how much of me is like, intrinsic to my soul or whatever and how much of me is my family and my friends and my country and my probably fucked up brain chemistry that makes me feel sad and empty most of the time?" -- The concerns stopping Cass from buying completely into Jae's ideas of reincarnation and continuance.

"And it's my art, okay? It deserves - I deserve more than to just exist to be an overly-elaborate middle finger. There isn't anything beautiful about that!" -- Their retort against Asuka's implying that their pursuit of art will defy the terrorists.

"So what does it matter if there isn't a single other person out there who gives a shit? Like, if an artist makes a painting and only shows it to one other person in their life, but it inspires that person even a little, it's just as meaningful as a painting that inspires a hundred! My life has meaning because it's mine, and that's all it needs to be!" - Cass finally gets a little self-affirmation.

Other/Trivia

 * On the day they were abducted, Cass was wearing a black tanktop with a red heart in the middle, jeans, and black sneakers.

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Cass, in chronological order.

Pre-Game:
 * Only Love is With Us Now, Something Warm and Pure
 * Spare Tire
 * Hot Problems
 * Look Around, Look Around
 * In C.

V6:
 * Five Finger Death Punch
 * They Stumbled Into Faith and Thought
 * No One Gets Left Behind
 * Remember Everything
 * Wash It All Away
 * What if I told you...
 * Wombo Combo
 * Repeating, Repeating, I'm Dying, I'm Breathing
 * The World's an Ugly Place, but I'm Still Afraid to Die
 * I know my soul's freezin', Hell's hot for good reason
 * Rivers of Sadness and Mutual Need

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Cass Prince. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''